Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer

Not Yet Rated

Thursday - May 27, 2010

From: Lake Winnebago, MO
Region: Midwest
Topic: Propagation
Title: Pollination of blackberries in Lake Winnebago, MO
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Not sure if blackberries are native, but my daughter got a start of one at a plant exchange at the nature center. Do we need more than one for it to pollinate correctly? We have strawberries growing in the backyard also, if that makes a difference. Thanks so much for your help.

ANSWER:

There are 31 members of the genus Rubus, blackberry, native to North America and 5 native to Missouri. We don't have any way of knowing which of these you have, but since they are all the same genus, the information we can find should be correct for all of them. The blackberries native to Missouri are:

Rubus allegheniensis (Allegheny blackberry)

Rubus alumnus (oldfield blackberry)

Rubus allegheniensis var. allegheniensis (Allegheny blackberry)

Rubus argutus (sawtooth blackberry)

Rubus recurvans (recurved blackberry)